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A last-minute deal is possible to keep the U.S. Grand Prix on the 2012 Formula One schedule.

Formula One: New deal possible for U.S. Grand Prix in Austin

December 5, 2011

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Deal or no deal? That's the game Formula One is playing, with F1 honcho Bernie Ecclestone as the host.

Ecclestone has said repeatedly that the FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in Delhi, India, which takes place on Wednesday, is the absolute final deadline for the United States Grand Prix near Austin, Texas, to make the F1 calendar for 2012.

Don't book your flights yet, but at this point, all indications are that executives at the under-construction Austin track, Circuit of the Americas, have made a last-minute deal to keep the race on the schedule. To do that, chief financier Bobby Epstein had to pay Ecclestone the first year's sanctioning fee, believed to be between $25 million and $30 million, as well as provide assurances that future races can be financed properly per the 10-year contract.

The central sticking point has never been explained but appears to involve an internal conflict between Epstein and fellow founding partner of the race, Tavo Hellmund, who originally held the contract with Ecclestone. When Epstein and the other financiers did not pay the fee by an earlier deadline set by Ecclestone, it was back to the bargaining table. Ecclestone provided Epstein with a contract but Epstein said it was unsatisfactory and submitted a new contract to Ecclestone, who predictably turned it down.

Details regarding the contract Epstein has apparently signed have not been made public, but it seems likely that they were less favorable than Hellmund's original contract. Hellmund's company, Full Throttle Productions, also negotiated contracts for MotoGP and Australian V8 Supercars for 2013; the status of those two series at the Circuit of the Americas remains unclear.

Regardless, it will be a scramble--and likely an expensive one--for the recently idled track-construction effort to ramp up again and complete the track and the other facilities required by F1 for the November 2012 race date. If that date is not met, the debut race could be pushed back to 2013, but not without Circuit of the Americas paying a substantial cancellation fee, likely the first year's sanctioning fee.